KIEV, Ukraine – A pro-Russia party won the largest number of votes in Ukraine’s parliamentary elections Sunday, two exit polls indicated, dealing a stinging rebuke to President Viktor Yushchenko’s West-leaning administration.

Polling stations shut after 15 hours, with voters choosing from more than 45 parties that sought seats in the 450-member parliament.

One exit poll said 33% of votes had gone to the Party of the Regions led by Viktor Yanukovych, a Kremlin ally who lost to Mr. Yushchenko in the 2004 presidential election forced by the Orange Revolution street protests.

The poll, by Democratic Initiatives, International Institute of Sociology and Razumkov Center, said former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s bloc was second with about 23% and Mr. Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine party was third at under 14%.

A second poll, by the Ukrainian Sociological Service, gave the Party of Regions 28%, Ms.Tymoshenko’s bloc 22%, and Mr. Yushchenko’s party 16%.

The polls predicted that three or four minor parties would also make it over the 3% threshold needed to earn seats.

Ms. Yushchenko’s job was not at stake, but the vote was the first since constitutional reforms trimmed presidential powers and gave broader authority to parliament, including the right to name the prime minister and much of the Cabinet.

The victory by Mr. Yanukovych’s party could potentially give him say over those choices, although he would not have the majority needed to act without parliamentary allies.

There were also indications Mr. Yushchenko and Ms. Tymoshenko, the flamboyant heroine of the Orange Revolution’s protests, might be willing to try to patch over their differences so they could form a governing coalition. But many analysts were skeptical that would happen.

Mr. Yushchenko also seemed to hint he might even consider working with Mr. Yanukovych.

The president’s party has suffered from disillusionment over a sharp economic slowdown and the infighting among former Orange revolution allies. But Mr. Yushchenko insisted before voting ended that no matter how his party did, the election was still a victory because it was the most democratic election ever held in Ukraine.

“I feel great. It’s the kind of feeling you have before a victory,” said Mr. Yushchenko, who wore an orange tie and stood beside his Chicago-born wife, Kathy, as he voted at Kiev’s Independence Square. “Democratic elections always mean victory.”

Mr. Yushchenko, who as president retains the right to set Ukraine’s foreign policy and appoint the foreign and defense ministers, pledged the nation would continue on its Westward path. “The vote results will have no impact whatsoever on Ukraine’s foreign policy course,” he told reporters.

Mr. Yanukovych, who enjoys broad support in Ukraine’s Russian-speaking industrialized east and has ties to its powerful tycoons, advocates improved ties with Moscow and a halt to Ukraine’s efforts to join NATO.

Mr. Yushchenko’s and Ms. Tymoshenko’s parties could together end up with more votes than Mr. Yanukovych’s bloc, but the two had a bitter falling out when the president abruptly fired her as prime minister in September.

Mr. Yushchenko said his party would start coalition talks today with former Orange Revolution allies, adding that “the most important thing is the maximum engagement of democratic forces in forming a coalition.”

But he also said several options for a coalition would be considered – an apparent signal that he was keeping the door open for an alliance with Mr. Yanukovych.

Ms. Tymoshenko portrays herself as a victim of ruthless and corrupt clans, a martyr’s image that along with her prowess in public speaking helped her retain strong public support in the nation of 47 million people.

Russia, still reeling from the humiliating defeat it suffered in the 2004 presidential election when a court annulled Mr. Yanukovych’s fraud-tainted victory and ordered a repeat vote, avoided direct meddling in the campaign. But it worked actively behind the scenes.